the policy that kept the united states out of war for three years was called

In 1947 the British and US zones combined economically to form the ‘Bizone’ but remained separate political entities. It was originally intended that the country would be governed as a single entity by central German administrations, in accordance with decisions made by the four Allies acting jointly through the Allied Control Council in Berlin, but in practice each of the Allies ran their zone more or less independently for the first two years of the occupation. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin at Yalta in February 1945, Germany was divided by the victorious Allies - Britain, the US, the Soviet Union and France - into four zones of occupation.

Reconciliation does not happen automatically, but requires a conscious effort on both sides.Īt the end of the Second World War, in accordance with agreements made between Winston Churchill, Franklin D.

Personal relationships between occupier and occupied are important.

If political structures are to last beyond the occupation, they have to be created by local political leaders and accepted by the population as a whole. Trying to make local people do everything the victor’s way can be counter-productive.

Democracy cannot be imposed by force or by totalitarian means.

Therefore military commanders and civilian authorities need to respond flexibly in light of what they encounter.

There is a limit to how much preparation can be done in advance because it is impossible to predict actual circumstances on the ground.

Giving the Germans ‘hope for the future’ was one of Montgomery’s favourite phrases.

Restrictive measures to prevent future aggression need to be complemented by positive reconstructive measures so that the occupied can see their own efforts are rewarded.

As Field-Marshal Montgomery said in a message to his troops on Victory in Europe (VE) Day,, ‘We have won the German war. British experiences in post- war Germany, 1945-1949, highlight some general principles which are relevant today: what happens after the war is won can be more important than the war itself.

British and American occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan have shown that ‘regime change’ and victory in war do not necessarily lead to the establishment of stable and prosperous democracies, as was the case in the Allied occupations of West Germany and Japan after the Second World War.

The policy that kept the united states out of war for three years was called